Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Disney World part 2

Who went to 3 parks in one day? Yup, that was this crazy family! After we discovered that Jonah likes Disney World, we had so much to show him!
We started off the second day with waking up early to get to Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. It was a quick bus ride from the Animal Kingdom Lodge, especially compared to the other parks. We went straight to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and didn't have to wait at all. Jonah loved this ride, but like I said, he is obsessed with animals! Most of the animals on this ride he knew, because we have them at our zoo. But there were a few that were brand new for him, which was really fun. He kept saying, "What is it, Mommy?" The morning was a great time to go see the animals because they were pretty active! We got to see hippos, gorillas, bongos (a striped antelope), cheetahs, and a giraffe that decided to step right in front of our car!
After the ride we walked along the Safari Trail to see some more animals, which took FOREVER with a one year old. I would have to say, if you're kid isn't obsessed with animals, you might want to skip Animal Kingdom alltogether. It's pretty much just a big disney-fied zoo. We loved it, but if you're kid isn't interested in animals, they might be bored.
After hanging out in Africa, we headed to Dinosaur land! Jonah can be scared of dinosaurs, but these were pretty kid-friendly. We rode the triceratops spin ride (basically Dumbo with dinosaurs) and then went to the boneyard, which is a big play area with slides and dinosaur bones!

I actually got to run over and ride the Dinosaur ride while Jonah and Ted played for a little while, which was fun! When I got back, we started walking over to have lunch. We happened to pass the birds show, and Jonah said he wanted to go. We hadn't planned on seeing this show, but he actually loved it! They would fly the birds over your head to a staff member at the back of the arena, and at one point they let a bird fly to a volunteer in the audience. Jonah was trying to get the birds to fly to him after that! He said, "Do me!" and held out his hands for them every time they would fly :)

The Bug's Life movie was out of order that morning, so we had to skip it. But it may have been for the best, since I've heard it really is kind of scary for little ones. After the show we headed to Tusker House restaraunt for lunch with Donald, Goofy, Daisy, and Mickey! Good thing Jonah ate for free because he barely ate anything. He was way too star-struck and distracted by the characters.

After lunch we were heading out to go take a nap, but it seems we always get distracted by something! There was a group performing drumming and dancing, and Jonah had to go dance with them. Then we headed back for nap.
After nap, we had to go to Epcot to ride the Finding Nemo ride. Jonah loves Nemo almost as much as Mickey, so it was definitely worth it to make the extra trip. He loved it! He also liked walking around and getting to see the manatees and dolphins, both of which he had never seen before.

We walked around Epcot a little bit more, played in the water fountains, and had dinner in Mexico.

We decided we had time to ride one more boat ride (in Norway), but it was actually a bit scarier than I remembered. :( It was the first ride Jonah was really scared on, but at least it was short. We also had to hit up Spaceship Earth, which Jonah liked more than we would have expected! He liked looking at all the people and talking about what they were doing.
After our time at Epcot, we had to head back to Magic Kingdom for park number 3 for the day! We got to ride the monorail, but Jonah wasn't too impressed but it. I guess he has been on the streetcar, busses, and other little trains so many times he didn't think too much of it. We got to Magic Kingdom in time to head back to Liberty Square to watch the Electrical Parade. We knew we had to make it to this parade, because we knew he would love it! We had to wait for a bit, but we had ice cream to pass the time. Then a staff member came by and rounded up all the nearby kids for a game of "Duck, Duck, Donald"! Of course Jonah had to play, because he thinks he's a big kid. It was hilarious and one of our favorite parts of the trip! I couldn't get the video up, but it is so funny. The kid has clearly a very minimal understanding of how to play this game. He would just jump up and start running around randomly, when it wasn't even his turn. At least he got the concept that he had to run in a circle and sit back down in his spot!

Can I just say, I thought I was a helicopter parent until this trip. There was a guy FREAKING out about Jonah running around. In a kids park, with no cars or other electrical moving objects, in a game made for KIDS. I mean, I know he was the littlest one there, but that means he wasn't going to hurt anyone else, right? One woman was a little worried about him, but I just told her, "Well, if he gets trampled, oh well. If he wants to play with the big kids, thats a risk he has to take." I feel like we can't never let Anything happen to him ever. If he falls over sometimes, then he'll have to get back up.
Jonah loved the parade, of course. He was wide eyed the whole time. We tried to stay for some of the fireworks, but he was getting really tired and cranky by this time (it was past 10pm!) so we decided to skip the end and headed back. Jonah fell asleep on the bus ride back, and was unhappy to be woken up for his bath (he was DISGUSTING) and to be changed into his pajamas. But he was very happy to go to sleep after such a busy day! We flew home the next morning and he did great on the airplane (still exhausted, and slept the whole time.)
I've only logged the good memories, but we definitely had our share of temper tantrums. Also, no one in Disney World disciplines their children. I think no one wants to get on to their kid in the happiest place on earth, but in the end it just makes them confused. I think next time, I'll just spank him at the beginning of the trip to let him know the rules still apply, and we'll all be happier the rest of the time. It was a difficult and challenging time, but worth it. We all had so much fun, and the awed and excited look on his face whenever he saw something new or fun was truly magical. We look forward to our next trip...in SEVERAL years.

About Me

Ted and I were married on May 14, 2005. We spent 5 years traveling, working, eating in the city with the best food ever, and generally doing whatever we wanted. We welcomed our amazing son to the world July 10, 2010 and now life has changed for the better. This is an account of our adventures together so our many family and friends that live out of town can keep track of how Jonah is doing. But you should still call me on the phone, too.